What was a little revolutionary was that Copernicus worked out his system in full mathematical detail in De Revolutionibus. By doing this, Copernicus went a step beyond Ptolemy, de Cusa, and Aristarchus. Ptolemy had regarded his theory as simply a mathematic tool for calculation, having no physical basis. On the other side of the coin, de Cusa and Aristarchus had proposed a purely physical model, not endeavoring to mathematically investigate its consequences. Copernicuss most significant achievement was his combination of mathematics and physics, adapting physics to conform to his view of astronomical truth, with a good bit of cosmology thrown in for good measure.
This achievement alone, however, hardly qualifies as a revolution. Copernicus offered mathematics which were every bit as entangled as Ptolemys, and because he retained circular orbits, his system required the inelegant inclusion of epicycles and their accompanying complication. To Copernicuss credit, although his description was not any simpler than Ptolemys, it did require fewer basic assumptions. In addition, Copernicuss theory explained some problems, such as the reason that Mercury and Venus are only observed close to the Sun and Marss retrograde motion . However, like Ptolemy, Copernicus could still not explain variations in the brightness of Venus.
Copernicus was the first person in history to create a complete and general system, combining mathematics, physics, and cosmology. Yet, by themselves Copernicuss achievements, do not constitute a revolution. Copernicus had been motivated to this theory by Neoplatonic and Pythagorean considerations. His reasoning seems to have been predominantly motivated by aesthetics. In his view, equally spaced planets in circular orbits would represent harmony in the universe. But Copernicus had made no observations and stated no general laws. His mathematics could describe the motion of the planets, but his theory was of a very ad hoc nature.
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